Light Side
by Darkslyfox
Summary: Intertwining with Randomcolor's Dark Side, Vixo McCloud, the long lost brother of Fox McCloud, goes against tough odds to defend the Lylat System from the Aparoids. Chapters 4 AND 5 are here! Ch. 6,7, and 8 are coming soon!
1. Chapter 1: Wild Ride

_**Star Fox team and Star Wolf team copyrighted by Nintendo**_

_**Vixo, Melfina, and the rest that aren't Randomcolor's copyrighted by me**_

_**Sezidan, Felina and rest that aren't mine copyrighted by Randomcolor**_

Light Side

By Darkslyfox

Heroes

Vixo McCloud – main character, long lost brother of Fox McCloud, but he doesn't know that. He's an ace pilot working for the Cornerian Army with the brains to match. Red fox species.

Odius Klavatan – old mechanic for the Cornerian Army, knows all about the vehicles in the army, becomes good friends with Vixo. Brown wolf.

Arastor "Sezidan" Shardeth – Unknown past. He is of the Red Fox species.

Sergeant Marcoks – Drill sergeant of Vixo's group, hates his name being made of, also is stationed on the _CS Freedom_ with Vixo. Leopard species.

Melfina Helaroy – female pilot in Vixo's flight group, Vixo's somewhat rival wink wink Brown fox species

Revano Zandry – cocky, muscular, but serious male pilot in Vixo's group. Red bird.

Marcus Rolavine – another pilot for Vixo's group, very good with strategy and maneuverability. Grey wolf.

Captain Felina Cartivan - Captain of the ship _CS Freedom_. Vixo's commander.

The Star Fox team: Fox McCloud, Krystal, Slippy Toad, Falco Lombardi.

Villians

Aparoids - Invading army which threatens the Lylat System.

Any of Sezidan's enemies also counts. (Look on Randomcolor's story of Dark Side)

Star Wolf team takes no sides.

Chapter 1 Wild Ride

"Finished," said the young, red fox, Vixo McCloud, as he handed his completed entrance test to the military clerk across the counter.

"Alright, let's see how u did." The clerk put the test in a machine slot, pressed a few buttons, and had the machine do its grading work. Moments later, the machine showed the test results on its screen. "Looks like u scored a 95 on it, Mr. McCloud. You could enroll into any field. But you'll have to take your pick from here," the clerk said as he handed Vixo a role application form.

Vixo looked through the long list of jobs, seeing various ones like Medic, Soldier, and Special Forces. Only one really caught his eye however. "Ah, here we go. Pilot. I was born to fly, hehe." With that, he filled out his form and handed it back to the clerk.

"Pilot it is then. You are assigned to a military housing facility until we ship you out after graduation. Here's your key." The clerk handed Vixo an ID card and a key to his apartment.

Vixo then headed out the door, reading over his ID to find his apartment's location. Luckily, it was within walking distance. When he found his apartment, he stepped inside and immediately noticed two beds. One with a blank logo, the other already having "McCloud, Vixo" displayed on it.

"Man they're fast with that," he said as he looked at the name on his bed. He packed his clothes and stuff in his dresser and placed a picture on top of it. The picture was of his adoptive parents and himself as a child. He had lost his real parents at a very young age in an accident. He couldn't remember anything of it though, or of his real parents for that matter.

"Think I'll go for a little walk," Vixo said as he finished unpacking. He stepped outside, locked up the apartment, and headed down a sidewalk path. As he walked, he passed by a big building that seemed to be a hanger. A mechanic was inspecting one of the ASF-2s when he saw Vixo walking by.

"Hey, boy!" Come here!" he yelled, motioning Vixo over with a wrench in his hand. Vixo walked to where he was. "What's your name boy?"

"Private Vixo McCloud, sir," Vixo replied.

Wonder if there's any relation, the machanic thought. "Eh, don't call me sir, boy. Makes me feel old. The name's Odius Klavatan, but you can call me Oddy. Ever fly one of these before?" he asked as he motioned toward the ASF-2 that he was inspecting.

"No, sir...er, I mean Oddy, but I've read alot about 'em. The ASF-2: the fastest, most maneuverable air/spacecraft in the Cornerian military. It has the power and defense to match too," Vixo said. However, he knew only one other ship that could beat any military aircraft any day. He just didn't want the government to know about it yet.

"Not bad. These babies need to be tested out, and the group here is one guy short. Wanna go for a spin?" With that, Oddy tossed the key to the ASF-2 to Vixo.

"Sure, why not?" Vixo stepped into the ship and sat in the pilot seat.

"Alright, let me show you the controls," said Oddy as he climbed up the ship with Vixo. He started pointing out various buttons and switches. "You got your steering here and auto-pilot there. Your thrus..."

"Thruster there, cloaking, missles, ion firing, charge-up blast. I haven't flown an ASF-2 before. Doesn't mean I don't know the controls and how to fly all together," Vixo said with a tinge of sarcasm as he put on a headset hanging off a bar.

"Well, you should've just told me," said Oddy, looking a bit stricken back. "Take off is in four minutes. Do a systems check and make sure everything is green. You'll be able to talk to me on that headset of yours."

"Gotcha," Vixo replied as he closed the hatch and turned on the ignition. The front window showed the ship going through its series of diagnostics. Next it showed the ship's status and eleven other small screens showing the other ships. Radar also came up in the corner of the screen. "All systems are green. Ready for take off."

Oddy's voice came through the speaker in the headset. "Copy that, all ships, take off is in T minus 30 seconds and counting." All the ASF-2s starting there hovering thrusters, lifting the ships off the ground. The roof of the hanger opened for the departure, revealing the Cornerian blue sky.

"T minus 10…..9……8……7……6…." The engines started revving in the back of the ships. "5……4…..3…." Vixo gripped his thruster lever, waiting to push it as high as it would go while gripping his joystick until he had white knuckles. "2…….1…….GO!" Within a split second, Vixo pushed the lever to high and was the first one out of the hanger. He started doing barrel rolls and flips, really testing out the maneuverability.

From the ground, Oddy looked at the boy's skills in amazement. "Damn that kid can fly! He has to be related to him!" He pressed a button and sent out some machines into the air, now talking into the intercom. "Alright boys, here comes the drones. Time for target practice."

Within moments, Vixo shot out 29 of the 50 drones that were sent out. The others were calling him names for being a dronehog or else were staring at him in awe. They then flew in a group around the boot camp. "Hey, there's my apartment!"


	2. Chapter 2: Gotta Be Crazy

Chapter 2 Gotta Be Crazy

The testing was complete, and even with Vixo's amazing pilot skills, the ASF-2 was still in great shape. At least nine of the ships landed back in the hanger, the other three landed outside since inspection was no longer needed. Vixo climbed out of his ship with Oddy meeting him on the ground.

"Amazing flying there boy! I've only seen a few like you before, but I think you just topped out," Oddy said as he punched Vixo in the shoulder.

"Hehe, thanks, my dad taught me how to fly and I've been doin' great ever since," said Vixo, his cheeks turning redder than his fur.

"Well, he did one hell of a job. Just for that show, I'm gonna let you stay with this baby until the newest upgraded ship comes in. That'll be in a few months though. In the mean time, I'll register your name on the ship's computer." With that, Oddy climbed into the ship and started working on the computer.

"Alright, I'm gonna head back to my appartment. Thanks, Oddy."

It was already setting into the evening. The sun was heading down, leaving a deep orange glow in the sky. When Vixo got to this appartment and stepped in, he noticed the other bed was now occupied with another red fox in a deep sleep.

"Arastor Shardeth, eh?" whispering to himself, not wanting to wake his new roommate. He headed inot the bathroom, turned on the water to the shower, and started undressing.

20 minutes later

Vixo got out of the shower, dried off a bit, and put one some pants. He brought the towel with him as he started opening the door. As he stepped into the room, he saw his new roommate awake and sitting on the side of his bed.

"Hey there, you must be Arastor," he greeted.

"Eh, I go by my middle name, Sezidan," his roommate replied, looking a bit offended by Vixo's greeting. "You must be Vixo."

"That would be me." Vixo continued to dry his hair. "Would've introduced myself earlier, but you were snoozing," he said as he grabbed a shirt out of his dresser.

"So what do you do?" asked Sezidan.

"I'm a pilot in training for the ASF-2."

"Hmm...I'm in Special Forces myself."

They stared at each other for a moment.

"You gotta be crazy!" both said in unison.

They laughed.

"Hey kid, you're alright. Lemme buy you a drink."

"Well...they wouldn't serve me here would they?"

"Good point kid. Hmm, stay right here." Without another word, Sezidan grabbed his key and left.

Vixo shook his head and sat down on his bed, looking at the picture on his dresser and wondering how his adoptive parents were doing. It has been months since he last saw him.

An hour passed when Sezidan came back to the appartment. "Hey kid, I'm back!" he said as he walked in carrying two brown bags.

"Hey! They don't allow alcohol on base!" Vixo felt a chill run down his spine when he thought of how the upper-ranked officers would react if they were caught.

"Hehe, what they don't know won't hurt me." Sezidan pulled out a beer from one of the bags and tossed it to Vixo. "Drink up kid." He then pulled another beer out and started drinking.

Two hours of laughing, crying, and more laughing passed. Vixo then was out cold, snoring loudly on his bed.


	3. Chapter 3: Boot Training

Chapter 3 Boot Training

Vixo woke up from his long, alcohol-induced sleep, having a painful headache and a sick stomach. With a big yawn, he got out of his bed and looked into a mirror hanging on the wall.

"DAMNIT SEZ!" he yelled as he saw the blue markings on his face. Sez must have put it on when he passed out. He ran into the bathroom and started scrubbing the blue out of his fur. Sezidan was taking a shower while laughing under his breath.

Moments later, after Sez took his shower and Vixo was done with his face, a letter came for them both. "Hmm, our assignments," Sezidan said, reading his own. "Well man, it was fun while it lasted. But kid, you might want to clean this up before you leave." He left before Vixo could get a word our. With a growl, Vixo started cleaning up the appartment while dressing and reading his assignments at the same time.

A few hours later, Vixo came to the pilot side of bootcamp, seeing some mechanics working and some drill sergeants ordering their "maggots" around. Guess we need some basic ground training first before goin in the air, he thought. He got to his barracks, found his bed, and lied down to sleep. Tomorrow is a big day...

Day 1 Familiarization

"Listen up maggots! Now is the time where we start turning you crying, wimpy babies into hell-raising adults! My name is Sergeant Marcoks, but you will address me as sir. Is that clear!" the drill sergeant shouted, a vicious looking male black leopard.

"Sir, yes sir!" said 16 pilots in unison.

"If I hear any smartass comments about my name or myself at all, I swear the next thing you'll see is my foot so far up your ass, you'll be eating rubber for a week! Do I make myself clear!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

The sergeant looked down the line until he spotted Vixo. "Well look who we have here," he said, walking up to the red fox. "You must be Vixo McCloud, the one Odius was talking about. Heard you were doin some 'expert' flying. Is this true?"

"Sir, yes sir," standing up straighter and raising his chin abit higher.

The sergeant smirked. "Don't get too cocky son...it'll get ya killed."

Day 2 Weapons for Pilots

"Well boys...er, and girl," the sergeant corrected, looking at the only female brown fox in the line. "Today we will be introducing and testing pilot weapons." He took out what seemed to look like an AIR-7, the type of gun the army and Special Forces use, but this gun had extremely different modifications. "This is the SPIR-5, meaning Super-Pulse Ion Rifle Mark 5. Based off of the AIR-7, this baby has obvious changes to it to best suit the pilot, but is about as powerful or maybe even better." He turned the safety off and shot at a dummy from a distance with a blast of light, burning a hole straight through the chest.

"The SPIR-5 has five settings on it. Numero Uno: EMP, or for the dumbasses, Electromagnetic Pulse. Sends out a blue shot of electricity, disabling any electronic device it comes in contact with.

"Number Two: Stun. Sends out a shockwave through the enemy's nerve system, knocking them unconscious.

"Number Three: Kill. The name speaks for itself.

"Number Four: Wide Range. Disperses a narrow, horizontal, 90 degree radius shot. It can kill multiple enemies, just don't forget to make sure your own men are out of the way or ducking.

"And last but not least, Number 5: The Seeker. This is for the running or manueverable enemy. It follows the target until contact is made. Now...let's do a little testing." Marcoks tossed the rifle to Vixo. "McCloud, you do the honors. Five stations are already set up," he said, pointing to 5 stations in the field.

Vixo nodded and set the rifle to EMP by the dial on the side. He took aim at a scrap robot waving at the line. He fired and the blue shot made contact, sending ripples of electricity around the body of the robot. It was no long moving.

Next, he set the dial to stun, but this time the target was an innocent animal. Vixo looked at the sergeant surprised.

"Don't worry son. The shot will only knock it out for awhile, not kill it. We already tested the kill shot with that dummy. Now go ahead and fire," pursuaded the sergeant.

Vixo turned back to the target and fired. A yellow shot made the animal fall over unconscious. He then switched to the Wide Range setting, turning toward the biggest station with multiple targets. Vixo fired, sending out a green shot that was horizontal and narrow. It cut all the targets in half.

Then Vixo changed it to the last setting, the Seeker. The station had a drone hovering just above the ground. "Go!" he yelled. The drone took off into the air, twisting and turning everywhere. Vixo got a lock-on with the targeting system on the rifle and fired a white blast. The shot followed the drone until it made contact and exploded.

"Good work, McCloud. Now this rifle will be placed under the computer console of your ship, a few inches above your knees. This way it's easy access." Marcoks pulled out a smaller gun. "This will be your sidearm weapon. The Blaster. Two settings: stun and kill, that simple. It will be placed in a holster hung on your hip. That is the end for weapons today. You are dismissed." The sergeant saluted as so did the pilots.

As Vixo headed for his barracks, he watched the girl walk down the sidewalk, thinking: A girl pilot...this should be interesting...

Day 3 Body Armor

"Today's gonna be a short one maggots. Now we look at body armor and head gear." He pulled out a helmet and a thin looking shirt. "In the event of a hostile situation, you will wear this helmet. It will be hooked behind your seat. Also, this is no ordinary shirt. This shirt is made of a special material able to absorb 70 percent of a blaster shot set to kill. So you'll only feel a punch if a shot did hit you along with a slight sting." Marcoks tossed the shirt to Vixo. "Put it on boy. Don't be scared."

Without hesitation, Vixo took off his original shirt and put on the special one. The sergeant aimed at Vixo's stomach with a SPIR-5 set to kill and fired. When it hit, Vixo felt like someone just punched him hard in the gut, making him fall to his knees in pain.

"You OK boy?" the sergeant asked with a laugh.

"Yes sir..." Vixo coughed, examing the bruise on his stomach.

Day 4 Mortal Kombat . 

Everyone met in what seemed to be a dojo. "Alright people. Today we test your flexibility and martial art skills. Pick up a pole on the wall there and let's get started." They did as they were told and Marcoks read off names for the people to fight, two at a time. Three matches went on until...

"Private Vixo McCloud!" Marcoks ordered. Vixo stepped up onto the mat with his pole. "You will be fighting...Private Mefina Helaroy." The girl stepped up onto the mat. Vixo looked at the sargeant confused. "What McCloud? Too afraid that she'll kick your ass?"

"No sir," Vixo replied, getting into his fighting stance.

"Well then, fight!"

Vixo swung his pole at the girl, but she blocked before it made contact with her side. She retaliated with a kick to Vixo's side, but Vixo blocked. The two went at it for a half hour kicking, punching, swinging at each other, sometimes making contact if one was vulnerable. It took only one final move until one of them went down.

Melfina swung her leg on the floor, kicking out Vixo's legs from under him. The next thing Vixo knew, he was on his back looking at the end of her pole. "Don't ever underestimate a lady," she said, ending the fight. Vixo just stared at her in awe.

Day 5-11

"Today people, you will be playing an old fashioned game of chess, just like every other branch of military is doing for the next week. If some of you maggots don't know how to play, you got a manuel on your table. Winner gets dinner tonight, losers don't. Now get playing."

Two were at each table. Vixo was paired up with Melfina again. Hours passed and most of the pilots were done already. However, Melfina and Vixo were still going, Vixo with 4 pieces and Melfina with 6.

"Check," Melfina said. Vixo moved his king out of the way. Melfina made one more move but made a big mistake in doing it. Vixo saw it and moved his bishop, trapping her king.

"Checkmate," he said, looking at Mel.

She looked over the board, sighed, and laid her king down. "Good game," offering her hand.

Vixo shook it. "Yea, good game. You may be skilled more with the body, but I'm better with the mind." He smiled and went off to dinner.

Day 12-62 Ship familiarization and Air Combat

"You all should have looked over your ship's manuel, so I don't have to go over controls with you. You havev all been randomly chosen into 4 different groups with four people each." Marcocks started reading off names to different colored teams.

Vixo was called to the blue team with three other people. One was a muscular, red bird. Another was a grey wolf. Both looked more experienced and older. The last was once again Melfina. Damnit, this choosing has to be rigged, Vixo thought.

"Alright, your ships are in that hanger over there." Marcoks pointed to the building. The pilots started heading over to it. "McCloud!" he yelled, making Vixo turn around. "Odius said he had one already for you. It's in the far right corner and marked with your name on it."

"Yes sir," Vixo replied, heading back to the hanger. He went into the back until he saw the ASF-2 marked "McCloud" on the side. I already had a blue streak on it as well. He climbed in, turned the ship on, and lifted off and out of the hanger, the others following behind.

The sergeant's voice came into his headset. "OK maggots, weapon settings have been set to EMP. You get shot and your computer disables, but you'll be able to manually glide in the air until your computer reboots. You will then land cuz you're out. Now, head off in different directions and meet at the objective point on your radar in 5 minutes."

The four groups headed off. Vixo's group was in a diamond formation. A voice came through the headset, the screen in front of him showing who was talking. It was the bird, who was leading. "Alright guys, I'm Revano Zandry," he introduced himself with such a deep voice, it could make Marcoks' fur crawl. "Stay outta my way and we'll be on good terms."

Another voice came in, this one sounding a little raspy. "Marcus Rolavine here. Just remember Rev, we're working as a team here."

Before Revano could respond, a womanly voice came through. "Melfina Helaroy, and don't be thinking I'm weak. I think McCloud could tell you otherwise."

Vixo laughed and turned on his mic. "Vixo McCloud, and stop braggin Mel, it'll get ya killed."

They laughed and headed to the objective point. The point was in a mountain region with deep valleys and twisting canyons. The started to see blue shots being fired. Red dots and targeting triangle appeared on their screens. Revano's voice chimed in.

"Alright people, switch to combat mode. I'll be Blue Lead. Marcus, you're Blue 2. Mel, Blue 3, and Vixo Blue 4." Their numbers appeared on their screen as they switched the ship wings to combat mode. "Divide and conquer. Go!" He hit his thruster and sped off into battle. The others followed and then headed off in different directions.

Vixo had already picked a target moving around in a valley. He stayed as low to the ground as possible, hiding from his target before he sprang from the cliff and dove at his prey. He started firing as his target was turning around to fire back. As blue pulses passed by him, Vixo pressed some pedals at his feet to do deflecting barrel rolls to make the shots bounce off his wings if they were close enough to hit. He made one more barrel roll and drifted off to the side, aiming at the front of the target. He fired and hit the other ship right in the side. "Gotcha!" he yelled, talking to himself. Just then, a warning came on his screen, telling him he was being targeted from behind. Vixo hit the thruster and sped off. The other ship followed. He saw an open cave in front of him. "Computer, analize land structure and tell me if there is a way through."

The computer responded with a high beep and examined the rock structure. It gave positive confirmation and started giving directions with a 3D model.

"Damn this old technology! Where's Sylvia when you need her?" He enter the cave and followed the 3D map through twists and turns, missing spikes in the cave by a very small margin. He dipped up and down through the cave like he was in the belly of a huge snake. The other ship was no longer behind, probably too scared to follow. Suddenly the warning came on the screen again, but still no one was following. He started hearing a rumble outside of this ship. "Oh shit...why now? I'm only three-fourths of the way through!"

He sped up a little more, twisting and turning around the spikes. Rocks started falling from the ceiling of the cave. A light appeared at the end. More rocks came down, little pebbles and rocks rattled on his wing. The light grew bigger as he neared and dodged the falling rocks. He could hear static starting to come from his headset with some voice trying to come through. "Blu...you...ixo..." The light started to get small again. Vixo knew the rocks were about to close him in. Determined to get out, he hit the Turbo and zoomed through the cave and just got out of the opening before it closed up. The voice came out clear now.

"Damnit Vixo! Where the hell are you!" It was Revano, who sounded very pissed but worried at the moment.

"I see him! Did you actually do what I think you did, Vixo!" Melfina asked in amazement.

"Yea, and this fuckin computer didn't help matters any! That damn cave about swallowed me whole!" Vixo yelled, looking at the status of his ship to make sure it was OK. The wings and body took minimal damage, and got some marks on it that looked like blaster marks from a distance. "But man wat that a rush!"

"Don't act so careless next time! You could've gotten yourself killed! And your still in boot camp for God's sake!" Marcus sounded extremely pissed too.

Vixo looked at Marcus' ship flying toward him. "If anyone is careless at the moment, it's you. You got two bogeys on your tail."

The warning finally came on Marcus' screen. "Damnit!" He got shot in the back of his shiip and the computer went out. He switched to manuel and glided out of the battlefield.

Vixo shot down the two ships with ease. They were the last two. The battle was over. Marcoks voice came in through their headsets. "Nice work blue team. Come back home."

Day 63 Graduation

The day had finally come. The pilots were all dressed in sky blue uniforms, saluting the Cornerian flag. Vixo and the others were standing beside each other.

"Today I wish to congraduate these fine soldiers on the work which they have accomplished to get this far. These soldiers will be a fine part of the Cornerian Army."

Vixo could see his parents in the crowd, clapping for him. He smiled.

Day 64 Assignment

A letter came in the mail for him.

"Dear Private McCloud,

"Congradulations on your graduation. However, due to your careless actions involving that collapsing cave, you will remain as an Ensign until further promotion is recieved. You will be stationed on the CS Freedom. There you will recieve your training in the Advanced Flight training course."

Vixo growled and looked through his bag, pulling out a small box. "Here we are..."


	4. Chapter 4: CS Freedom

Chapter 4 CS Freedom

The battleship's hallway was somewat cold with light shining off the metallic walls as Vixo walked and followed the signs to Barracks 2B. When he found it he walked in and noticed a ton of beds against the walls. One had his name on it and then he started to read the others around his.

"Corl, Cyrellus...Fortune, Leon, and...now way! Sez is here too! Sweet! This will be better than I thought." He gazed over at the footlockers, noticing Sezidan's rank. "Damn him! That bitch got Corporal 1st Class. Guess I better start workin my ass off to get past him." He put down his bag in his locker, first taking out the box he found days before, and then headed out the door. He rounded the corner only to be stopped by an upper-rank officer. It was a female Artic fox in a sky blue uniform.

"Whoa there boy. Slow down. What's the rush?" she questioned.

"Oh, sorry ma'am, I was just going to the bridge to ask the captain something."

She laughed abit. "That would be me. I'm Captain Cartivan. What do you need?"

Vixo gasped and saluted her. "Sorry ma'am, Ensign Vixo McCloud. I was wondering if you would give me permission to put something in my ship that may enhance the computer system."

"And what would that be?"

"A type of program, ma'am, or more like a new operating system. It's what I would call my little helper. It gives better combat strategy, may find ways to enhance the ship by 75, and show a much better terrain model than the original system on the ship does. I had it on my last ship. Her name is Sylvia."

Cartivan looked surprised. "It has a name?"

"Of course, ma'am. It gives off a woman's fuck voice instead of the computer beep like in the original system. So it's only right that she would have a name. Plus I made her myself. I'm great with computers."

The captain seemed satisfied. "Well, if it does what you propose, then you have my permission. However, if something goes wrong, I want it out of that ship. Understood?"

Vixo saluted again. "Ma'am, yes ma'am. Thank you ma'am."

"Oh, and would you happen to be in Barracks 2B?"

"Actually, yes, I am ma'am."

"Good. Could you tell Corporal Shardeth that I'd like to see him in the bridge please? He should be there by now."

"Yes, ma'am. I will." With that, Vixo headed back to his barracks, the captain going the other way back to the bridge. As soon as he walked in, he saw Sez goin through his locker. "You know that's invasion of privacy right?"

Sez turned around to face him. "Hey man. Just checkin out your uniform," he said, seeing Vixo looking over his as well. "Looks like your doing the same to me."

"Well Sez, I'm glad you made it through boot camp. How was it?"

"Kid it was hell and then some. Was fun though. How was yours?"

"Eh, I'll have to tell you about it some other time. The Captain wants to speak to you."

"Ok man, good seeing ya again," Sez said as he waved and left the room.

"Alright, now time to find my ship..." He walked back into the hallway and made his wat to the docks. There were way too many ship to through one by one just to find his. Then he noticed a booth to his right with another officer in it. He walked over to the officer. "Excuse me. I need to find my ship. The name is Vixo McCloud."

The officer did a search on his computer. "Here we are. Vixo McCloud. Your ship is on Dock 7, Pad 4. You can use that moving sidewalk to get there." He pointed toward a black belt moving on the floor.

"Thanks." Vixo went over to it and started walking foward on the moving sidewalk in order to get to the dock quicker. Each dock was big enough to hold four ASF-2s, one dock for each flight group. Two minutes passed until he reached Dock 7 and saw his ship along with Mel, Rev, and Marcus' ships. He stepped off the sidewalk, walked to his ship, and climbed in the pilot's seat. Next he took out the box he had and opened it, pulling out what seemed to be a hard drive. This hard drive, however, had a touch-screen and two cables coming out from the top of it. Vixo hooked the cables to two data ports on the ship console, selected a file on the touch-screen, and pressed "Upload."

The upload was done and the next thing Vixo heard was a woman's voice on the computer. "Upload complete. New computer system recognized. Ship is fully functional. All systems are green. Hello, Vixo."

Vixo smiled. "Welcome back, Sylvia."


	5. Chapter 5: Tinkering with Toys

Chapter 5 Tinkering With Toys and Old Memories

Vixo worked on the engine and other parts of his ship into the late night, making smalls modifications for better performance. Sylvia gave him diagnostics as he went along. It made him feel like he had some company since he was really alone on the dock...well, until a few minutes later that is...

"Proximity Alert! Unknown identity approaching," Sylvia said, sensing a person walking toward the ship.

Vixo turned his head and saw Melfina walking towards him. "Don't worry Sylvie. The people on this ship are fine. That girl is part of my flight group. I'll show you the others later." He continued working on the ASF-2.

Melfina came up to him. "Vixo, what are you doing here? It's really late."

"I should be asking you the same thing," he replied, screwing in a tube to the engine.

"I asked you first."

Vixo laughed abit. "I'm making modifications to the engine so I get better performance."

"Then who did I just hear? Sounded like a woman."

He lifted his head out of the engine door and looked at her. "Mel, meet Sylvia, my own computer. Sylvia, this is Melfina."

"Nice to meet you Melfina," Sylvia replied.

Melfina looked a bit surprised. "That ship is talking! How did you do that!"

Vixo laughed at her reaction. "I had her in this portible hard drive," showing her the device. "Captain Cartivan gave me permission to upload her into my ship's system. She'll be able to help out our group during missions."

"Cool. So I'm guessing you're really got with ships? Especially after flying through that cave the other day."

"Yea, I've been flying for a long time now. My dad taught me. He was flying in races and did some awesome tricks alot better than the one I did in that cave. He was the best, first place in almost every race and skills competition."

"Wait...I know only one person like that. Are you talkin about Marlin Vastor?"

"Actually, yes, that's him."

"But if he's your father, why is your last name McCloud?"

"It's cause I was adopted. I lost my real parents in some type of accident at a really young age. They kept me with McCloud cuz it was on the blanket that was wrapped around me. So really, my last name is McCloud-Vastor. But people just use the first one cuz I guess there's some significance to it."

Melfina looked really surprised then. "You mean you don't know the famous Fox McCloud!"

Vixo gave her an odd look. "No, I lived on a farm. We don't get anything out there."

"He's the one to defeat Andross and bring the dinosaur planet back together! I can't believe you've never heard of him! You think you two might be related? That would be soooo cool if you were."

"Hell if i know. But you've got me interested now. I did hear dad mention something like 'It's about time that monkey got his ass beat.' Too bad I don't know that pilot." He looked over his engine and put down his tools. "Well, I'm done here. I think it's time for bed."

"Yea, it's really late."

"Oh, and you never did tell me what you were here for."

"Heh, just to come and see the stars. Having just a energy field as a cover for the docks gives a nice view," she said, looking back at the blackness for of stars beyond a light, blue screen of energy.

"I see, well, we better get our sleep. I'll walk ya back to your quarters."

"Thanks," she replied with a smile. They went back down the hallways, Vixo making jokes on the way and her just laughing and smiling as they walked.


End file.
